TTTC7100 - Charging penalties
Before charging a penalty, HMRC will consider:
- Has the liable individual in connection with the contravention been identified?
- Does the liable person currently hold an Economic Operator ID or did they hold one at the time of the contravention?
- The quantity of cigarettes and/or hand rolling tobacco detected
- Have there been previous contraventions of Tobacco Track and Trace regulations? If so, when and what volumes of tobacco products were involved.
- Is there a reasonable excuse?
Further guidance for reasonable excuse can be found at CH160200
When a penalty is imposed, HMRC will determine the penalty according to the quantity of tobacco products detected and notify the responsible person.
If the EOID is also being deactivated, HMRC will confirm this in writing, as well as stating the period for which this will apply.
See TTTC8250 What happens when an Economic Operator ID is deactivated.
Penalties are to be treated as an amount of duty due from the person liable for the penalty under the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 and may be recovered accordingly.
Where more than one person is liable to a penalty for a contravention of Regulation 6(1) of The Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) Regulations 2019, the penalty may be imposed on any one of them.
A person is not liable to a penalty under this regulation in respect of any failure or action in respect of which the person has been convicted of an offence under any provisions of the customs and excise Acts